The topic of Vinicius and racism is one that generates divided opinions in the public. For some, this issue is nothing more than a public relations movement that the Brazilian exploits to generate impact. While, for others, his commendable fight against discrimination and racism demonstrates his commitment to root out one of the great evils of current football.
What is certain is that Vinicius is a footballer who has zero tolerance towards any type of insult or racist behavior, no matter who it comes from, and that includes his own club, Real Madrid.
According to the Spanish media Relevo , several days before the hot match between Valencia and Real Madrid in Mestalla, the white club had to put out a small big fire behind closed doors, since Vinicius Jr., the offensive star of Ancelotti’s scheme , allegedly refused to play the match due to a publication made by the Real Madrid community manager on Instagram, which would have greatly offended the Brazilian footballer.
#ExclusivaRelevo 🔏 Una publicación del Madrid en redes desató una crisis con Vinicius, que amenazó con no jugar en Mestalla.
La imagen contenía un logo del grupo 'Vini Vici', inspirado en la evolución del mono al ser humano.@JorgeCPicon 🤝 @Rodra10_97https://t.co/KaQEemBuzj
— Relevo (@relevo) March 14, 2024
The reason? A sticker showing the logo of the Israeli DJ group, Vini Vici, which is made up of five figures that represent the evolutionary chain, going from a monkey to a human being, this being represented as a DJ.
Vinicius, furious, asked Real Madrid for explanations and refused to play until those responsible were punished.
Relevo assures that, despite the fact that the image only lasted a little more than half an hour on Real Madrid’s official Instagram account, Vinicius saw it and, furious, met with José Ángel Sánchez, general director of Real Madrid, to ask for explanations for the “offensive” sticker in which a monkey appears, this being the most used insult against the Brazilian on the playing fields.
During this meeting, always according to the aforementioned source, Vinicius threatened not to play the match against Valencia until those responsible were punished and the club promised him that it would take immediate measures to reprimand them. After calming him down and giving him guarantees that action would be taken against those responsible, Vinicius agreed to play the match.
The white club did not want to confirm or deny this information, since Relevo assures that Madrid executed a plan of absolute silence to prevent this case from becoming public.